This Seems Familiar
by Woodrokiro
Summary: "The first step in recover is recognizing you have a problem." Ichigo does not know how he had gotten to this point in his life. IchiRuki.
**A/N:** Was looking at the IchiRuki Month prompts and got stoked and? Is it cheating if I said this was inspired by #9 (favorite head canon)? IDEK just know the fluff may make you throw up because I'm disgusting.

Enjoy!

...

"The first step in recovery is recognizing you have a problem." She addresses him with lucrative eyes, words forming slowly as if he's a moron (which, well, is admittedly not unusual for Rukia).

Ichigo starts to retort, and then stops himself when she reaches over to snatch the dangling clip on earring from his lobe. She raises it as if to prove her argument.

Ichigo does not know how he had gotten to this point in his life.

...

Well, he kind of does. Maybe.

Look, he's grown up with sisters, right? _Younger_ sisters, to make it worse. And when you've got a name that means "one who protects"... Yeah. _Yeah_ , he's gonna be defensive when it comes to Yuzu and Karin. Maybe he _is_ going to look a bit scarier when later down the road Jinta and Chad (what the fuck _what the fuck was that about_ he still thinks to himself) come asking for his... Blessing.

Gag him.

And sometimes he'd pick up their favorite candies for them when they were sick at home or surprise Yuzu by making the family dinner when she was busy studying for tests or kick their dad's ass when he found Karin's first bra she had secretly bought and flipped out. You know. Typical stuff he really thinks any brother should do.

But like? Spoil them? Nah. Ichigo was always very aware of how smart and self-assured his sisters were, how they didn't really need him to shower them with his attention or baubles. Big brother duties required him to throw in an occasional ruffle to Karin's hair or sneak a bite or five of Yuzu's dinner before it was ready. Couldn't possibly have them think they could take advantage of their brother, right? Right.

But... Man. _Man_. None of that shit compares to when Aika was born.

He remembers back to a biology lesson he took in school, learning how a mother and father feel such a strong connection to their newborns because of some chemical reaction involving endorphins-nature's way to ensure they'll take care of their young. Some cold, analytical stuff like that. And it sounds reasonable enough to Ichigo (a guy who has seen a lot of _un_ reasonable shit in his life)- but is it really just that? Is that really all there is to it when it comes to looking at this tiny human he and his wife _made_ , for the first time?

When she coos at him, when she glares her [mother's] eyes at him, when she wraps her little hand around his finger-these are all moments he'll tell you he became hooked.

...

His wife is still glaring up at him, eyebrows raised as she dangles the offending, bedazzled clip on jewelry between her fingers.

"You're letting a three year old run your life. Where did she even get this to put on you, anyway?"

"Look, I'm not the only one," he quickly defends himself, attempting to pull a bow out of his air that has become a deadly knot only toddlers could be capable of. "You know what happened with all this? Your brother. Aika was-OW!- strolling through town with him, suddenly says, 'I want _Pretty Pretty_ _Princess_ game!' And guess what they buy together two seconds later?"

"It was probably his birthday present for her!"

" _Six months early._ "

"Leave my brother out of this!" She huffs, then watches in self satisfaction at her husband's useless attempt to work the (now bigger) knot. She slaps his hands away, reaching for the kiddie scissors on the counter despite his protests. "Nii-san only sees Aika every few months. He's her uncle that wishes he had more time to be in her life. He's allowedto spoil her. You, on the other hand-"she snips with a frightening fervor- "You see her every single day, and every single day she blows you over like this. It's like you're her brainwashed lackey."

"... That's not true..."

"No? Let's see. She convinces you to sneak her cookies _when I specifically said she can't have anymore_ , she made you reconstruct our bed into a 'princess fort', she drops her toys just for you to hurry to pick them up-"

"Oh c'mon, she's _three_. It's not like she has good grip yet-"

"She watches you do it. GIGGLING.I've seen her!"

"Christ, Rukia-"

"And what do I come home today? You and Aika. All dressed up. Still awake. When she is well past her bedtime and you both damn well knew it!"

"...She said she wasn't tired."

Rukia slaps her hand to her face, groaning. There is a silence as Ichigo attempts to hold however much dignity a grown man can have when still wearing a princess crown.

"You know," she starts again quietly, suddenly, with a secret smile on her face-and he can tell this blow she's about to deliver will be bad, this is gonna be real bad, _Houston we're gonna have a fucking problem_ -

"You're just like your father."

Ichigo screams, forgetting that his daughter is fast asleep in the next room over because fuck.

He knows it's true.


End file.
